By Carol Cichorski, on April 10th, 2011 You might not have noticed, but my blog is not alone out there. As I did my research for today’s presentation to the Central State Dahlia Society meeting, I found some really good articles. I’ve attached the links so you can go exploring as well.
Testing Soil Quality by Growing Radishes
By Mr. Brown Thumb
Have you ever heard of the phrase “canary in a coalmine?” Coal miners used to take canaries into coal mines where they acted as early-warning signals for toxic gases or fumes. If the birds became sick, or died, miners would have quality of the air they were breathing. You can do something similar to test the quality of your garden’s soil by growing radishes. While growing radishes to test your garden soil will not give you any insight into toxins located in soil, this experiment can give you insight into what is lacking in your garden’s soil … Read more at Mr. Brown Thumb’s site.
Gardening With Tulips: Book Review
By Cold Climate Gardening
I have clay soil and several kinds of rodents in my garden, and I’d pretty much given up on growing tulips, but Gardening with Tulips by Michael King is making me reconsider. Not just because of the gorgeous color photos on every page, but because …. Read more at Cold Climate Gardening.
Hellebore Mania is Imminent: Last Week at Squirrelhaven
By Mr. McGregor’s Daughter’
Dear gardening friends,
While the swallows may return to Capistrano, the excitement around here is the great egrets and great blue herons returning to the pond behind the garden. A great egret visited and snacked on fish on Wednesday. Then the mercury plummeted and snow fell. The egret looked most … Read more at Mr. McGregor’s Daughter’s site.
Anti Inflammatory Herbs – Herbal Remedies for Inflammation and Pain
By Backyard Patch Herbal
As I start moving around and washing my containers for spring planting I am immediately reminded of my age and all of its aches and pains. …There are many herbal therapies that have been tried through ages and have proven … Read more at Backyard Patch Herbal.
Dear Hortense Hoelove: Horticultural Senility?
By May Dreams Gardens
Gardener’s Attention Distraction Syndrome (GADS). This is the condition that causes gardeners to start out intent on completing one activity in the garden, but then they see something else that needs to be done, say to themselves, “gads, I need to do that now”, then they stop and do that, which leads to yet something else to do. They repeat this cycle until they have completely forgotten what they were originally going to do. This constant shifting of focus, of doing one task and then another without really ever finishing anything, is quite … Read more at May Dreams Gardens.
I’m sure I had a point to make by writing this particular blog. Hopefully my own case of GADS did not deter me from reaching it, as I’m done now.
By Carol Cichorski, on April 7th, 2011 You can have dahlias blooming in your garden in August, even here in zone 5. Choose option #1 (do it yourself), or option #2 (don’t do it yourself).
Mike’s do-it-yourself option
 If you followed the instructions in You Want Me to Plant My Dahlias NOW?, you are prepared for the task. You’ve got your dahlia tuber. You’ve got a pot. You’ve got soilless potting mix. You’ve got light.
For those of you who have grown seeds indoors, the challenge is minor. The results are what is huge … dahlias from August to October! Dahlias like Spike, who you see pictured here. If you are not so ambitious, see Carol’s not so-do-it-yourself option further below.
Mike says
Pick a pot that is large enough to accommodate the tuber. Use a soilless potting mix rather than actual garden soil. Garden soil has the possibility of harboring insect pests that might be detrimental to the early growth of your tuber’s roots. Plant the tuber, allowing just the top of the tuber above the soil line. This will allow you to watch the sprout development. It is not necessary to do this; you can plant it about 4 inches deeper, but why not enjoy the show. I find it really enjoyable witnessing this touch of Spring.
Once sprouted, young plants require significant amounts of light. My flourescent lights are just inches from the top of the plant. A minimum 2000 lumens is a good choice. A timer is set to keep the lights on 14 hours a day. Frank, my mentor, keeps his on all the time. Regular light bulbs will not do the job. Official grow lights are not required.
Carol’s don’t-do-it-yourself option
Too much trouble? Too iffy? No lights? Forget about potting up your own dahlias. Wait till May. Then go to a garden club or dahlia club plant sale where someone else already started the plants for you. Good for the club and good for early blooms. Details coming soon.
By Carol Cichorski, on April 4th, 2011 Commitment can be scary. Once I’ve committed to do something, I actually feel compelled to do it. There is no turning back. Which is why I made an external commitment about the patio. It’s one thing to be planning to build a patio someday. It’s another thing to post on the blog last fall that the time is coming this spring. Now I actually have to do it.
I knew that I was clueless as to what I wanted in a patio.
I knew I’d be restricted to what we (we being Mike) could do ourselves.
I knew the whole process would take time we don’t have.
So why, why did I do it? Because I am tired of looking at this…
The hardest part for me is getting started. I’ve done that now, so I hope for the project to take on a life of its own. I even posted my design quandary on Facebook. Here is a floating patio that Shawna Coronado then suggested. I picked this construction picture because it shows that she used a variety of materials. That appeals to me.
You can see her completed project at ShawnaCoranodo.com. I’m sure Shawna, the consummate green girl, would be so proud of us for reclaiming the bricks from a neighbor’s construction site. We couldn’t bear to see them go to waste.
We’ll continue doing our research and figuring out what we’d like to do. Suggestions welcome! Check back in to see some of the ideas we collect and how we are doing.
This article is a continuation of We’re Planning a Patio and it precedes Oh No, No Patio. There will be more.
By Carol Cichorski, on April 1st, 2011 It is spring, but you can’t tell by looking at Chicago weather. You can barely see the neighbor’s house. What did we do to deserve all of this snow on the Cub’s opening day?
Did I mention today is April 1st? Do you think that just perhaps it is your local blogger that you can’t trust on this April Fool’s day?
By Carol Cichorski, on April 1st, 2011 The month of April, per Edith Holden’s “Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady” …
The name of this month is derived from the Greek word fo ‘opening’. In many countries of Europe the first of April has for long been appropriated to a facetious custom for which no satisfactory origin has yet been assigned. To send an ignorant or unsuspecting person on a bootless errand is the great endeavour of the day. In England such an one is designated ‘April fool’, in Scotland he is said to be ‘hunting the gowk’, while in France he is called ‘poisson d’Avril’ or April fish.
And from the collection of poetry Ms. Holden has been kind enough to share with us …
Oh, how this spring of love resembleth
The uncertain glory of an April day!
Which now shows all the beauty of the sun
And by and bye a cloud takes all away.
From: Two Gentlemen of Verona
Author: Shakespeare
Whereforth cometh the inspiration to wax poetic? Gardeners’ Muse Day, where Carolyn Choi invites bloggers to share our favorite poems, songs, verses and quotes about gardening on the first of the month.
By Mike Cichorski, on March 29th, 2011  You may want dahlias like these. Who wouldn’t? But if you read the first article on propagating, that might be too serious for you. After all, you can just go to the store, get a package of dahlia bulbs, and plop them in the ground in May. Or can you????
You can, if you are willing to wait till September for blooms. You can get a head start on the season by potting up the tubers now. Doing so can result in earlier blooms, therefore significantly more flowers!
Considering that a tuber will take about 10-20 days to sprout and maybe another 3-4 weeks to get 18 inches tall, you could get a jump on the season by potting the tuber NOW. It will have good development when you transplant it outside after May 15th (Chicago’s last official day of possible frost).
Another advantage of starting early is that some tubers just don’t perform. They may not sprout at all, or they may take 2 months before you see any green come out of them. Those slow growers and perpetual sleepers need to be weeded out. By starting the tubers early, you get to see “who are the contenders and who are the pretenders”.
 So go on-line to a place like KVB Wholesale to drool a little, dream a little, and buy a big ‘un. Start with a reliable and impressive plant like this one, Kelvin Floodlight. Frank Campise says ‘You can’t kill Kelvin Floodlight with a lawnmower’. You’ll look like a pro.
You’ll need bright light – doesn’t have to be an official grow light at all. Pick up some potting mix. Wait for Kelvin to arrive. Come back here soon for planting instructions.
By Carol Cichorski, on March 26th, 2011 Today is being brought to you by the letters C, D, and E. Just like Sesame Street is a perennial favorite for kids (I couldn’t help myself, pun intended), propagating is a perennial favorite for men – at least for mine.
 D is for dahlias
Mike is in the basement as we speak, happily nurturing his many dahlia plants. When it comes to propagating, I don’t think its just Mike though. There is a higher percentage of men in Central States Dahlia Society than there are women. Many of the women are like me, just along for the ride. Don’t get me wrong, I love having dahlias, and Mike does ‘let’ me work in his dahlia gardens. When prime dahlia season comes in the fall, I am joyfully joyfully creating vase after vase of beautiful cut flowers.
C is for calla lily
Now he is adding calla lilies to his repertoire of basement sprouts. Last autumn, Mike could not pass up a great deal on 60 pots of calla lilies at a serious calla lily grower’s home sale. He overwintered those in the garage just like he does the dahlias. But no, that wasn’t enough. He also bought a bag of calla lilies at Costco last week. They’re in a pot too. We had them on the kitchen sink, then learned they are VERY poisonous to cats, so they’ve been moved out of Seeker’s reach.
E is for elephant ears
We aren’t growing any elephant ears in our garden this year. Thought I’d bring it up though. If you’d like to, this is a great time to buy some and get them in a pot pre-season as well. Dig them up in the fall as well. You’ll have more than you started with to pack away for next year.
By Carol Cichorski, on March 22nd, 2011 Its been several weeks since Mike started his dahlia tubers, and all is well in our basement. Sprouts, sprouts, and more sprouts. This is our second tray full. They’re in oasis under plain old fluorescent lights. Pretty cool, huh?
 Here’s a sprout that will soon join its friends. Mike planted the tuber in potting mix. After 2 – 3 weeks, the first sprout is 3″ and ready for cutting. The tuber goes back under lights to continue creating more sprouts for us.
Not sure that you care? Look below at Woodland’s Wildthing, then decide. Cuz that’s the tuber in the pot. More coming soon on growing dahlias.
By Carol Cichorski, on March 17th, 2011  Winter interest or sandals? That is the question. I am sitting on my back porch (oh I can’t tell you that because a winter interest article would have to be written in the warmth of my home). The question is still ‘Winter interest or sandals?’ I’d really rather not talk about winter interest. I’d rather celebrate spring. I know for a fact it is spring because I bought a great pair of sandals. I’ll only show you one pair because I don’t want Mike to know I bought five pair.
I also know its spring because I saw a sign, a garage sale sign. True sign of spring.
And I was out in my garden twice this week cutting down grasses. Better yet, there was a good 4″ of new growth.
And I drove to Linda’s after work yesterday with the convertible top down. We then took a walk, without coats.
This must be spring, even though the calendar still says winter.
 Ergo my conundrum. I should finish the promised series about winter interest and talk about something like pine trees. My great big pine trees look great all winter. No surprise, but its hard to plant something like pine trees when you want instant gratification. Do it anyway. We are so glad the previous owners of our house did.
I’ll just have to wait till next week to tell you how many plants in my garden are celebrating spring as well.
The artemesia that was supposed to be questionable in zone 5, IT’S BAACCKK. Maybe the garden center meant invasive in zone 5. That has certainly been my experience.
The daffodils have buds.
Clusters of green are hiding under last year’s sedum and mums.
But that will have to wait till next week. Because this week, I’m doing one more week of winter interest. Sure I am.
This is THE LAST installment in the OhWhatAWednesday series, where I dared to take on the task of finding something in my garden that looked good even during a Chicago winter.
By Carol Cichorski, on March 15th, 2011 Oh my gosh. Regine was right. ‘Gardening IS housework you do outside’. Last week my garden was filled with Winter Interest. This week it is filled with Spring To Do Items. My many beautiful grasses have gone from wispy to weepy. Autumn joy sedum has no more joy. Little lumps of snow covered kale looked cute. Now they border on disgusting. And they are on the wrong side of the border. Speaking of disgusting … If you can find snow around Chicagoland, its in a parking lot, disguised as a grey mountain of yuchh. Whose idea was this spring thing anyway???
My garden looks like this:
And this:
But wait, is that my first tiny bloom of winter aconite? Yes!
And tulips. Could those be tulips? Yes!
Thank you God, for the gift of seasons!!!
To see what else is in bloom on the 15th of every month, visit May Dreams Gardens.
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